A major criticism of the Republicans’ American Health Care Act is that it would raise insurance premiums for seniors by letting states charge them more.
But a top House Republican said states could change insurance costs under the bill that would partially repeal and replace Obamacare.
“If the plans are too expensive, [states] can adjust that,” said Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, during a House Rules Committee hearing Wednesday on the bill. “It really becomes less Washington telling Massachusetts what works.”
Walden was referring to a change in the age rating for insurance plans sold on the individual market, which is for people who don’t have insurance through their job.
Under Obamacare, insurers can charge a senior only three times the amount it charges a younger person. But under the AHCA, an insurer can charge five times the amount.
That change has angered GOP moderates who say that it would cause premiums for seniors not old enough for Medicare to skyrocket. House leadership aimed to address the issue by asking the Senate to consider it after the House passes the bill.
But Walden said that it is up to the states to decide the age rating, and not all states would have the five to one ratio.
“States can go lower,” he said at the hearing. “We say you design it. We are just giving them flexibility.”
Some states do have a lower age rating. New York, for example, has a one-to-one ratio.
Rep. Frank Pallone of New Jersey, the top Democrat on the Energy and Commerce Committeee, was skeptical states would work to lower the ratio unless forced to by the federal government.
“Why do you believe the states are going to do the right thing?” he said.
He added that Republicans are being hypocritical as they are mandating some requirements for states, such as forcing insurers in all states to cover people with pre-existing conditions.
Before Obamacare, states could decide for themselves whether they forced insurers to cover people with pre-existing conditions such as cancer or diabetes.
The hearing is the last committee hurdle for the bill. If it clears the committee, it will head to the House floor for an expected vote on Thursday.
